Our Darkest Times P1
by Cossacks250
Summary: Re-telling of much of the movie in 20th C. Europe. Anna is shut out by her sister Elsa who, unbeknownst to her, has magical ice powers. As the years go by, the two sisters feel estranged, though Anna's desperate to be with Elsa again. Both, however, along with millions of others, are soon forced onto a perilous fight for survival during one of history's darkest periods. Some OC's.
1. Prologue

**I do not own Frozen. Some OC's**

**Note: I would also like to note that there may be some disturbing parts within this FF. These will be highlighted by this sign (XX) so as to warn readers in advance. If you have any concerns, however, feel free to PM me. **

"_Oh, the horrific fire and storm that perpetually rages,_

_Spreading across Europe as the strong winds blow,_

_Cursing and breaking all humans of all ages,_

_And yet we continue to long for the day when it will all go._

_Have faith, have faith. Conceal and don't feel,_

_Never let your anger of fellow man drag you low,_

_Even when your oppressor crushes and grinds you under his heel,_

_Always hold high your happiness and never let it go."_

Those had been the words written by Madame Emma; a poet, a dreamer, a lovely woman who was medium height with similar length brown hair that was tied up in a braid, a small button nose, soft smooth skin that seemed to shine in the sunlight and blue eyes that reflected the deepest sea colour. Her personality was one of a very down-to-earth person; kind, generous, helpful, caring and very friendly.

Oh, and she was also a wife to mayor Caspian of Arendelle, a large town tucked away in the hilly areas of central Norway near the port of Trondheim where the landscape was lush, green and serene and all things benign roamed and lived. The mayor himself was a few inches taller than his wife, Emma, with short blonde hair, a medium sized nose, sideburns and brown eyes and was broad shouldered and built like that of an athlete. Like his wife, he too was a down-to-earth character and respected his people and community and they, in turn, loved him for it; hence how he had met his wife in the first place several years ago.

After a walk along the lakeside, and a funny episode where Emma had playfully shoved Caspian into the waters, he too having then picked her up and jumped back in with her in his arms and drenching the clothes they were wearing, they had eventually revealed their feelings for each other and he had proposed to her then and there, to which she had accepted and dived onto him and kissed him deeply, though both were drenched once again by falling back under the water's surface. A cute and humorous tale of how romance could bloom between anyone. Weeks later, both were married and shortly afterwards Emma was told she was pregnant; a piece of news that had overjoyed both as well as Arendelle's people.

It seemed that they had finally found their peace and tranquillity in this part of the world; their own little slice of their heaven, and they loved it.

So now, dear readers, you will probably ask; well why have you written the poem at the beginning of this story? What relevance does it have? Well as we all know, good times are never everlasting and can come to sudden, and sometimes horrific ends; whether slowly over time or instantaneously like the snapping of your fingers. And for Emma and Caspian, as well as much of Europe, this good time was about to end.

You see, the happy events described above had taken place in the year 1914; a time when the European major powers, although seemingly at peace on the international front with the running of their empires across the globe, were beginning to get riled up with one another at home. One area of particular boiling tension that rose every month was the Balkans, the area of Europe which had been the lands after the gateway to the east (this being Istanbul), the area of the continent where countless nationalities, ethnicities, religions and peoples lived, some peacefully, others quite the opposite.

This part of Europe had been fought over many times in the past thousand years but in the last forty to fifty, the Balkan peoples had had enough and, in 1878, conflict had exploded that had secured the independence of Serbia, Rumania (now present day Romania) and Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire that had ruled them for many centuries. Following up over the succeeding decades by the expansion by each of these countries and the liberation and creation of the Albanian, Bosnian &amp; Herzegovinian and Montenegrin states as well as the retaking of Macedonia by Greece, it seemed too that there was a peaceful era now present in this part of Europe but it too was only temporary for it drew the eyes of not only the Ottomans but also the Russians, the so-called 'Mother Slav' nation to the Balkan states, and, much to the anger of the Balkan peoples, the Austro-Hungarian dynasty in Central Europe.

From all of this spewed rivalry between the two latter superpowers of Europe and, combining with the rivalries and fears of Britain and France over a rising united and quickly industrialising Germany, there was soon a call for a defensive alliance. Within the last thirty years of the 19th century the Triple Entente between Britain, France and Russia was formed; soon to be countered by the Triple Alliance between Germany and Austro-Hungary; which Italy joined some time later. All countries involved in one 'camp', as they were called, promised assistance to the others if they were to be attacked by any nations within the other camp. Tensions rose and fell but soon people forgot about this threat of war and got on with their lives, believing that the war scare was but a distant memory. Oh it's only in the Balkans or Eastern Europe in Bosnia, wherever the hell that is, was the general feeling. Let them sort it out themselves, we don't need to worry!

All that changed on June 28th, 1914.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia, whilst visiting Sarajevo in the recently annexed Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina, were assassinated by a Serbian gunman working for the Black Hand, a terrorist group aided by Serbian generals. Furious, the Austro-Hungarians had wanted revenge and from here the countdown to war had begun. Over the next month, as news spread to the largely uninterested and complacent populations of Europe, the once buried, or at least put aside tensions between the European powers resurfaced. Anger flared, hatred rose and grew and soon talk of war was all people wanted to know about. When will it begin? Will we be involved? Certainly hope so! Where will it be fought if it does break out? Maybe here, I suppose?

On July 28th, one month on, Austro-Hungary had declared war on Serbia. What were to follow over the next week were the declarations of war of one power on another; Russia on Austro-Hungary; Germany on Russia, to which Russia responded likewise; France on Germany, to which Germany responded likewise; and, when Germany invaded Belgium in order to quickly overrun France, Britain on Germany. Millions of eager men and women were drafted into the services to carry out their expected duties; the air being jovial and exciting to them all. War was the perfect adventure, the best thing, and it would be quick; over before Christmas, the well-played and highly popularised view of the coming events.

Oh how wrong they were to be.

News of the events on the mainland of the Continent had shocked Caspian and Emma, both of whom feared that war would soon reach their own country and engulf them in this terrible conflict that was surely to arise. This was what had prompted Emma, whilst about four months pregnant, to write her poem, though she had never gotten round to giving it a name as the fear of the continental situation combined with the stress of her pregnancy had made her do so.

It was in December of 1914 that she had finally gone into labour on a cold, winter night when there had been heavy snow fall outside and the lake had frozen over. After a stressful, painful and emotional nine hours, Emma had given birth to a baby girl whom they named Elsa. For a brief few days, the now mother and father forgot the tentative and anxious times that had and were likely to occur, love drunk on their new daughter whom they would cherish, love, hold dear and hope to keep safe from all this horrible war. It was to be the 'Perfect Christmas present' to quote Caspian as he spoke to one of the citizens a few days later.

For millions, however, it was not to be for the war that so many had believed would be over by now was still raging on, and it showed no sign of stopping. Although the German invasion of France, along with the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia and the Russian invasion of Germany, had failed, the fighting had now become trench warfare on one side and mobile/trench on the other. Christmas passed and for the next four years the war raged on, spreading across the globe as sea battles, fighting in Africa and the Pacific over colonies and territories, the changing of Italy from the T.A to the T.E and the introductions of Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, the Ottomans and the USA as well as many empire and other non-European powers into the war.

A war that would never end seemed to occupy the minds of everyone, wondering when the endless lines of dead and dying would stop and enable mankind to rebuild. For many, such thoughts were a far off dream and a happy time they wanted back.

Though, thankfully, their prayers and wishes were answered when in 1918, with the failure of the German offensive in the summer of that year, along with the defeat of all its allies, the inadequacy of the benefits caused by the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the overwhelming might the American armies now pouring into Europe, the Imperial power asked for an armistice. After months of debating and discussing, it was finally agreed, though it had cost Kaiser Wilhelm II his position and title as Germany became a Republic.

Finally, on November 11th, 1918, the so-called 'War to end all wars' had ceased to fire shots. Both sides stopped the firing of their guns and now prepared themselves to rebuild their shattered lives and homes after a horrific conflict that had cost somewhere in the region of 10-16 million lives and left many more wounded and open to death by the Spanish Influenza that followed shortly after.

Still, at least there had been, even if it was small, a return of peace and tranquillity to many across Europe. Though whether it would last or not was the real question at this moment in time.

And what of Caspian and Emma you ask. Well that is where we endeavour to go to now fellow readers.


	2. A new family member

**Arendelle**

**March 8****th****, 1919**

Stars and beauty. Those two words seemed to come together like knife and fork or bread and butter or other such comparisons. Stretching out forever across the ever-stretching blackness of the night sky above, anyone who looked up was immediately absorbed by its tranquillity and benignity. It almost looked like looking at heaven itself, wondering what beauty was held within each of those lights as if they were treasure chests, all waiting to be unlocked for people to discover what they hid within them. It's reassuring of problems was also a positive aspect. You could always rely on them to make you feel like you had something there to tell your problems to and they would listen and comfort you. It would not be a surprise if people heard them say "Oh, it's only temporary, it's not so bad. You'll be fine. Just smile and go with the flow and you'll have a smile on your face again."

Within the bedroom of Caspian and Emma, a peaceful mood hung over the two and their daughter Elsa and her two caretakers, Kai and Gerda. Emma lay in her bed with her body up to her waist covered by the sheets and a bundle of blankets in her arms. Her face held an expression of relief and exhaustion as if she had just run a marathon, but the smile on her face as she looked down at the blankets can tell us she was alright. Caspian sat next to the bed on a chair with a loving smile on his lips. Relief and happiness were all that could describe his emotions right now, as with all other in the room.

Sitting on the side of the bed with her small legs dangling over the side was Elsa, now four years and, just under, three months old. She had grown a lot from her baby years and was now a healthy infant. Dressed in an icy blue coloured nightgown, her hands clasping each other rather tightly with a hint of excitement and slight apprehension in her blue eyes, Elsa looked longingly at the bundle of blankets in her mother's arms. The last six hours or so had been antagonising and stressful to say the very least for them all but now they could reap the reward given to them.

"She's so beautiful," Emma commented in a whisper as she smiled lovingly down at the bundle of blankets; hovering her finger to just above the blankets and a smaller one grasped it tightly. 

"She certainly is," Caspian replied with a smile as he moved closer and looked down at the blankets himself and planted a kiss on his wife's cheek. "I'm so happy," he breathed as he pulled back a little of the blankets with his finger and smiled and then looked over at Elsa. "Elsa, do you want to see your new baby sister?" he asked.

Eagerly, and nervously, she nodded and crawled over to her mother, sitting up and leaning forward to look into the blankets, her face lighting up when she saw the little figure within them.

It was a small baby girl with a rounded face, blue/teal eyes, a small nose and a touch of freckles across her cheeks. A tiny top similar to what Elsa had worn when she had been born was visible from the neck down to about half-way up the chest as the rest of her body was covered by the blankets; save for the arm that stuck out and held onto the mother's finger. A small tuft of red hair was visible on her forehead and one of her. When the baby's eyes looked up at her elder sibling, they seemed to sparkle with joy. The hand grasping her mother's immediately let go and it, along with the other, began to reach up towards Elsa as if trying to grab her and pull her towards her own little body. Elsa giggled and held out her hand and it was grasped by those of her baby sister; these being half the size of her [Elsa's] own hand. 

"She's cute, mommy," Elsa said to her mother with a smile as her sister began to playfully tug on her hand as if trying to tear it off, which made Elsa giggle. "Quite a grip," she added.

Emma and Caspian smiled at each other, as did Kai and Gerda, as Elsa moved her finger up and down, her baby sister giggling at her playfulness. For Elsa it was something she had been looking forward to for weeks. She had never seen a baby before and now right before her was one. Her heart was jumping with joy over this moment. Oh it was amazing. 

But … what about …? This was something that made her worried, especially when her new sister was going to be older.

"Mother?" she inquired, momentarily looking up at her with anxious eyes. "Could I …"

Emma, knowing immediately what her daughter meant, looked at Caspian with uncertainty in her expression; which he returned. Could they let her do something like that in front of their new daughter? Would it be right or not? Could they let their new daughter experience something like that? Sure she was only a baby, but she may remember it later on in her life. It was a little risky.

After a few moments, Emma looked back at her oldest daughter and nodded to her with a small smile. "Only do a little though," she told her with a hint of concern in her voice.

Elsa nodded, a little relieved at her mother's acceptance, and, twirling the fingers in her hand, began to conjure up a small cloud of ice and snow magic out of thin air. Her baby sister was mesmerised by the sight and giggled, reaching out with her other hand to try and grab it. Elsa smiled at her sister's happiness with what she was doing, as did her parents and carers Kai and Gerda.

Caspian and Emma, however, could not help but feel a little nervous about Elsa showing her baby sister her magical powers. Sure, yes, her baby sister would forget them within a few hours because she was a baby and her brain being so small it could not remember properly yet, but still it just unnerved them. Then again, When Elsa had been born and shortly after they discovered she had these ice powers of hers it had worried them greatly. They had thought of the troubles they would have in teaching her how to control them and not let them overcome her and threaten anyone around her. Luckily, Elsa had not been too much of a handful with them and was already learning how to keep them under control and not let them go, much to her parents' relief.

As Kai and Gerda looked on with smiles on their faces, Kai suddenly realised something. "Mayor Caspian?" he inquired, causing the mayor to look up at him. "Forgive me but what have you decided to name your new-born daughter?" he asked them.

Caspian looked back at Emma, who smiled and, looking at Kai, replied: "Anna. We're going to name her Anna."

"Anna," Elsa said, pausing her ice conjuring for a moment and looked up at her mother. "That's a really nice name, mother." She complemented.

Emma nodded. "It is, isn't it," She looked back at her daughter and kissed her forehead. "You'll have a little sister to look after now, Elsa."

Elsa smiled. "Yeah. I'll love doing that, mother." She said as she resumed her conjuring of magic over baby Anna, making her giggle again. 


	3. It was an accident

**Five years later**

**May 1924**

So once again dear readers, we come upon Arendelle in the dead of night, an ever stretching blackness lit up by the trillions upon trillions of stars that shined brightly like nightlights to the world below. It was deathly quiet in the town, save for the occasional sound of laughter and cheering from one of the pubs scattered about. A few lights were still on in the homes of some people but most were silent, signalling that their occupants were asleep, waiting for the daylight to befall them and for them to begin anew the activities of the next day.

Within the town hall, the silence seemed to hang in the air within the corridors and rooms of each part of the building. Caspian and his wife were asleep in their bed, as were the housekeepers Kai and Gerda in their own rooms. Towards the back of the building, a little to the right from the top of the stairs that led down to the entrance of the great hall, were the snow white coloured doors, decorated with a kind of dark blue snowflake design , of another room. Within it slept two little souls.

This was the room the two sisters Anna and Elsa. It was a large square shape with the end opposite the doors being covered by a large window that looked out onto a cobbled path between two rows of houses behind the building. One bed was placed against the right wall and another against the left. A large fireplace was placed in the top left corner next to the window. Bookshelves and pictures scattered the room, covering parts of the light pink coloured walls with a ring of snowflake wallpaper that ran around the room about ten feet from the floor. On the floor in front of the window, the shape of the snowflake design on the window was reflected on the floor between the two beds.

In the bed on the left side of the room, the form of Elsa slept. Now nine years old, she had grown a little more over the past five years. Her platinum blonde hair was now slightly longer and had a hairband in it at all times. Dressed in a dark blue nightgown and wrapped warmly under her covers, she slept soundly, her breathing being relaxed, warm and soft as she dreamed the night away.

Movement next to her bed, however, was soon to change all that.

"Psssstt! Elsa!"

A small head popped up from below the side of the bed. If Elsa had been awake then and there, she would have instantly recognized it to be her little sister Anna. Pulling herself up, her younger sibling placed herself over the covers where Elsa was laying and began to shake her eagerly.

"Elsa!" she said. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Elsa moaned in response and tried to pull the covers over her head but Anna's body stopped her from doing so.

"Anna!" Elsa moaned. "Go back to sleep!" she told her sister.

Her sister exhaled and, turning over, dropped herself against her older sibling. "I just can't. The sky is awake, so I'm awake! So we have to play, Elsa!" She replied.

Elsa, quietly, gave a small smirk and looked up at her sister, who turned over to look back at her, their eyes meeting each other's gaze.

Anna had grown a lot over the past half a decade. She was now just slightly shorter than Elsa at five years old with a head full of short red hair, teal green eyes that made her look adorable, a freckly face and dressed in a teal coloured nightgown. If there one thing that Anna had that was bigger than her age and body, however, it was her playful attitude, especially with her sister. That would often explain why she was often waking her sister up at inconvenient times like now for them to enjoy themselves.

Elsa gently pushed Anna off her and her sister fell off the side of the bed, landing on her bottom. "Go play by yourself!" she said.

On the floor, Anna huffed in annoyance, her mind pondering on how to get her sister to play with her. Waking her up had not worked, her 'puppy dog eye' tactic, as she liked to call it, was not likely to work. There had to be some way! There just had to be something that would get her sister out of bed.

What if … Anna's eyes lit up and a smile came across her face at the prospect. Now there was an idea and it was one that Elsa would _never _refuse.

Climbing back onto the bed and sitting next to her sister, she leaned in and whispered. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Elsa opened her eyes and smiled at Anna upon hearing those words.

Minutes later, Anna was pulling Elsa by her arm down the stairs towards the main hall, laughing and giggling all the way; Elsa, though laughing herself, shushing Anna to be quiet so as not to wake their parents or anyone else in the building. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they pushed the doors open and rushed into the hall, Elsa shutting the doors behind them.

"C'mon! C'mon!" Anna was saying excitedly to her older sister as she rushed into the light coming down through the window on the ceiling.

Elsa giggled at her sister's playfulness and rushed over, grasping Anna's hand as her sister pulled her around and did a kind of mini circle with her giggling "Do the magic, Elsa! Do the magic!"

"Okay," Elsa replied and motioned with her finger for her sister to come near her, which she did.

Twisting and moving her hands and fingers, she began to conjure up a cloud of magical whiteness and snowflakes out of thin air; a cold, yet soothing feeling rushing onto Anna's cheeks and she giggled at the touch of this on her face. Then, Elsa began, by moving her hands in a motion as if trying to rub the back of her hand with the palm of her other hand, to conjure up a brighter aura of the ice magic, which transfixed Anna's gaze and she stared at it in amazement and wonder. It was literally a thing out of a fantasy world here in the real world, and she was enjoying all of it.

"Ready?" Elsa said to Anna, who nodded in reply, a smile on her face.

With an opening of her arms, Elsa sent the cloud of white up towards the ceiling and, when it was near the ceiling, moved her hands apart quickly, causing the cloud of white to explode into a snowfall. Anna gasped in delight and watched as the snow fell around them.

"This is amazing!" she squealed happily as she held out her hands and caught some of the snow in her hands.

Elsa too was smiling at her actions. It was fun and pleasing for her and her sister.

_Why not continue _she mentally told herself. _What could go wrong?_

"Hey, Anna?" Elsa said to her sister, who looked up at her smiling. "Watch this!"

Elsa raised her foot and set it back down, though as soon as it touched the floor ice began to spread out from underneath it as if trying to escape. The entire floor of the hall was covered with ice in a matter of seconds and Anna squealed again in delight, sliding away from Elsa a little as she gazed at the display and magic her sister had shown her in utter amazement. This was the reason why she liked to play with Elsa; her powers made anything they did fun.

"Now. Let's build that snowman," Elsa said to Anna; her sister's eyes lighting up as soon as they heard this.

XXXXXXXXX

Snow was piled up all over the hall as Anna and Elsa began to roll a large ball of snow together from that which was around them. Anna had also formed a large ball of snow and, staggering over to where Elsa had formed the other larger snowball, placed it on top of that one. That was the base and the centre of the snowman done, now just the head.

XXXXXXXXX

Sitting on a chair from one of the stacked up piles against the wall, Anna made faces and giggled with delight as Elsa finished up the last of the snowman, sticking two arms in the side of the centre to act as hands and arms and putting a carrot she had taken from the kitchen on the face to act as a nose. When she was done, she stood behind the snowman and, grabbing the stick arms, she said in an attempted high masculine voice:

"Hi, I'm Olaf! And I like warm hugs!" moving the arms as if to make it look that he was alive.

Regardless of is he was alive or not, Anna jumped down from the seat and rushed over and embraced the snowman, resting her head on his face.

"I love you, Olaf!" she exclaimed, smiling at the snowman.

XXXXXXXXXX

Laughing and clasping his arms tightly, Anna spun around with Olaf on the icy surface, pulling and pushing him in many directions. At first glance it would look as if she had some kind of amazing ability to pull the snowman around with pulling it apart. When they turned, however, one could see Elsa standing behind Olaf and, firing wind from her hands at the floor, was pushing them around the room as if they were ice skating. Like her sister, she too was laughing and smiling immensely as they skated around the room, the fun washing over them like water on rock.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Hang on, Anna!" Elsa said excitedly as they slid down a hill of snow; Anna sitting on Elsa's lap.

Anna giggled loudly as they slid down what was like a slide of snow; being thrown through the air and into another pile of snow when they had hit a small rise at the bottom of the slope. Elsa was laughing very much by this point, the very joy of the moment sweeping over them as if they were in their own world. This was their winter wonderland and they were going to enjoy every moment of it.

"Elsa!" Anna exclaimed as she emerged from the pile of snow and stood up. "Catch me!" she exclaimed again, leaping into the air.

Instinctively, Elsa fired out a burst of snow that formed into a small hill below Anna, which her sister landed safely upon. Anna giggled and leapt into the air again, only to land on another pile of snow created by her sister.

"Hang on!" Elsa warned as she shot out more snow for Anna to land on.

A circle of small mounds of snow began to form around Elsa as her sister jumped from one pile of snow to the next. Whilst Anna was having fun with her jumping, Elsa, however, was struggling to keep up with her sister. Her younger siblings playful attitude was amazing but also a handful as well.

"Wait!" Elsa was calling to Anna, though her sister was having too much fun to notice. "Anna! Slow down!"

Anna, however, was too caught up in her own fun and failed to see Elsa's panicked expression as she struggled to keep up. She had to keep going though! If she missed or stopped her sister would fall and hurt herself badly.

"W-w-whoa!" Elsa cried all of a sudden as she lost her footing on the icy surface and fell down onto the floor.

With a gasp, Elsa looked up to see her sister leap into the air again, unaware of her sister having fallen over. Panic immediately gripped Elsa like a giant invisible hand. She had to save her sister quickly! She had to or else she would get seriously hurt!

"Anna!" Elsa cried out in fear, sending out an icy spell at random towards her sister.

What Elsa had not anticipated, however, was that her icy spell had gone too high and struck Anna smack right in the forehead, silencing her sister's playful voice almost as quick as the blink of an eye. With horror in her ears, Anna fell down and tumbled to the floor, coming to a rest at the foot of a small mound of snow that had cushioned her fall.

_Oh no! _Elsa thought to herself with utmost fear in her eyes as she rushed over to her fallen sister. _No! Anna, no! Please! _She was mentally crying to herself as she pulled her sister onto her lap and felt her forehead.

Cold. That was all that greeted Elsa's touch when she felt her sister's head; sheer, bloody ice cold. Her ginger hair had a white streak in it now that stood out like a sore thumb. Elsa shook her sister slightly, desperate for a response. Nothing. The fear within Elsa soared like a rocket. The cold within her sister combined with the closed eyes, closed lips and no breathing from her made her fthink fot he worst case scenario.

"Anna!" Elsa muttered, her voice lose from the fear of what she had just done to her sister. She felt her hands and squeezed them to get a response.

Still nothing!

Unable to control her anguish, Elsa, clutching her sister tight to her body and tears running down her face, cried out "MOMMA! PAPA!" before burying her face into her sister's hair, sobbing.

All round Elsa, her anguish feelings were to have startling, and terrifying results. Quicker than one could breathe a breath, frost and ice began to carve its way across the already frozen floor, up the walls and across the ceiling like some kind of unstoppable, all-conquering army. Chairs frosted over, tables froze into block of ice and the mounds of snow quickly collapsed into ruin. Even the snowman Olaf fell apart as if struck by something as soon as the ice made contact with him.

This was Elsa's power at its height and, uncontrolled; it was very unnerving to say the least.

"Y-you're okay, Anna!" Elsa sobbed as she held Anna closer to her. "I got you!"

THUD! THUD! WHAM! The doors to the room that had been frosted over burst open and two adults rushed into the room, both dressed in their nightly attire. It was Caspian and his wife, Emma. Upon seeing the sight around them, both froze for a moment as if they too had been frozen in time by Elsa's powers. Then, snapping themselves back into reality, they rushed over to their daughters.

"Elsa, what have you done?!" Caspian said, horrified at what he saw before him. "This is getting out of hand!"

Elsa wiped away the tears with one of her hands, though she felt like she wanted to cry a river more. "I-it was an a-a-accident!" she sobbed, glancing up at them and then back down at Anna. "I'm sorry, Anna!"

Their mother knelt down beside them and gently took Anna from Elsa, gasping as soon as her hands felt her little body.

"She's ice cold!" she said, horror in her voice, looking at her husband. "What are we going to do?!"

"I know where we have to go," Caspian replied, picking up Elsa and, with his wife in tow, rushed out of the room.


	4. Things were going to have to change

Within ten minutes, Caspian and Emma were racing out of the town hall on their horses; Elsa sitting on Caspian's lap and Anna on Emma's. As they went, a trail of ice was left in their wake, being conjured up by Elsa in her worry for the harm she had inflicted on her baby sister. Fear was eating away at her like some flesh eating bacteria. Anna had to be okay! She just had to be! She could not fall ill or get hurt or even die now, not when she was so young!

Elsa cursed herself for doing this. It had not been Anna's fault in her causing this happen, it had been _hers_. She fired that icy blast at her sister and she had given into her sister when they should have been asleep! Oh, how could she be so stupid! How could she let herself get carried away by something like this! It was her own fault!

The trousers of her father and the saddle with which he was sitting on began to frost over as her worried thoughts consumed her mind. Noticing this; he placed a hand on her shoulder and looked worryingly down at his daughter.

"Elsa, are you okay?" he asked as he pulled his horse to the left and down a cobbled path between two rows of houses.

She looked up at him for a moment and then, as if flipping a switch, began to cry. "Oh, dad, what have I done?!" She cried. "I-I didn't mean for this to happen! It was an accident!"

"Elsa, Elsa, calm down, sweetheart," he told her calmly and pulled her into an embrace. "It's not your fault. We'll fix this, don't worry, I assure you."

Elsa looked up at her father, revealing her tear-stricken face and bloodshot eyes to him. "Are you sure, dad?!" she asked, her voice whimpering a little.

He nodded and gave her a small kiss on the head. "I promise you, Elsa," he told her. "I promise Anna will be okay." He reassured her again and gave the reins of his horse another snap, urging the animal to continue, leaving Elsa to sit and watch the landscape roll past as if watching some kind of film.

For about another fifteen minutes the two horses raced along the cobbled paths of Arendelle, and then after leaving the outskirts of the town, the dirt paths towards the hills outside the settlement. As they neared the towering mounds of earth, a small hut came into view, perched lonely on the edge of a small plateau overlooking a drop into a small valley. A single light was visible in one of its windows and, if one looked carefully, a small column of smoke rose out of one of the chimneys on the side of the house. At first, dear readers, you would think why they are going to this house? To Caspian and Emma, however, this was the perfect place for them in a time like this. They knew that this was the only place they could go to in an emergency like this.

Pulling their horses to a stop, Caspian dismounted and, setting Elsa down on the floor, rushed over to his wife and helped her down whilst she held onto Anna.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

Emma placed a hand on Anna's forehead and quickly withdrew her hand from the cold, gasping in surprise.

"She's still ice cold! We need to hurry!" She replied, fear in her voice.

Caspian rushed over to the door and hammered desperately on it, hoping for an answer. Emma grabbed hold of Elsa's hand whilst keeping hold of Anna.

"Pabbie! Pabbie, are you there?!" Caspian was calling out, begging for a yes. "This is Caspian here! We have an emergency!"

For a moment, Emma and Elsa looked on at Caspian and the door hopefully, praying that the latter would open and reveal the person who they wanted to see. Then, the door opened and standing there was a medium height man, about 5ft 2, with faded grey hair, balding on the top of the head, a wide nose, large hands and feet and dressed in a dressing gown. A fireplace was visible behind him on the wall opposite the door with a chair next to a small table visible too, a book resting on the arm of the chair. His brown eyes focused on the group with a sense of warmth and comfort, as if he were some kind of storyteller greeting a new arrival. They had known him for a few years now and he had helped them out greatly since Elsa was discovered to have had the ability to control ice and snow.

"Mayor Caspian," he said in a soft, but deep voice to the group in front of him and nodded to the others, standing aside and offering them to come inside, which they did.

Elsa gazed at the inside of the house around them. It was mostly a large square room with a few windows on the left wall, several shelves running around the room, a small wooden table and chairs near the right wall between two doorways and a small pile of logs in the corner of the room next to a small sofa. The left doorway led off to another room, the bedroom, and the right led off to a small bathroom. The only source of light was the glow coming from the fireplace.

"I'm so sorry to disturb you, Pabbie!" Caspian said to the little man before him. "But we need your help! It's my daughter!"

Pabbie nodded and walked over to Emma, who held out Anna to him as if offering her to him as a gifted ornament. He placed a hand on her forehead, feeling the coldness run into his body like a wave crashing onto the shore.

"What happened exactly?" he asked and Elsa explained everything to him.

"Do not worry," he reassured them all and urged Emma to follow him over to the sofa, which she did. "Set her down here and be careful." he told her. 

Emma did as she was told and sat down on the end of the sofa next to her daughter's form whilst Pabbie knelt down next to the sofa and motioned for Caspian and Elsa to come over, which they did.

"Are Elsa's powers getting stronger?" he asked them and Caspian nodded.

"Yes they are," he replied. "We don't really know what to do with them at the moment." He added. "Is there anything you can do Pabbie?"

Pabbie nodded and touched Anna's forehead again. "You were lucky that it was her head and not the heart," he told them. "The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded."

"Do what you must," Emma told him. "Anything to bring her back and make sure she's okay."

He nodded and looked up at Caspian. "Mayor, I recommend that we remove all memories of magic. It is for the best for Anna." He looked at Elsa, who had a sad expression on her face when she heard those words, knowing what they meant. "Don't worry, Elsa, I will leave the fun. You and Anna will not lose your friendship at all."

Caspian placed a hand on her shoulder and gave his daughter a comforting look. "Do it, Pabbie." He said.

He nodded and turned back to Anna. For a few moments, he stood there with his hand on her forehead. All of a sudden, a small but bright light lit up the end of the sofa above her as if the sun was bursting into the room. Everyone was blinded for a moment and looked away when, as quickly as it came, the light vanished and the glow of the fireplace retook control of the room once again. Looking back, everyone saw, amazed, that Anna's face now held a small smile on it, even though her eyes were closed. It looked as if she was experiencing a dream where she could go and forget the worries and terror of the life she was in now, a place that was safe and where everything was as she wanted it to be.

"She'll be alright," Pabbie explained to them, nodding for Emma to take her daughter in her arms again. "By tomorrow morning she will be back to her normal self."

"But she won't remember I have powers?" Elsa asked him with a concerned tone in her voice.

"It's for the best, Elsa," her father told her, giving her a sympathetic expression. "It's too risky with your powers the way they are." He added.

Pabbie nodded and took Elsa's hand in his, looking straight into her blue eyes with his with a feeling of seriousness. It was easy to see that he was doing this reluctantly, but it had to be done

"Listen to me Elsa." He told her. "Your power will only grow as you get older. You have great beauty in it, but there is also great danger." Elsa's eyes widened at this point when she heard this, the feeling of sadness and worry growing inside her. "Fear will be your enemy, Elsa. You must learn to control it or you and those around you will be in grave danger."

Elsa gasped and buried herself in her father's arm, to which Caspian embraced her tightly to comfort and protect her. "No, Elsa won't go down that road. We'll help her control her powers." He said, looking from Pabbie to Emma and back again. "Until then, we will reduce the staff and limit her contact with people. Including-" he paused and sighed heavily with regret. "Including Anna."

Upon hearing those last two words, Emma and Elsa looked at him, both with expression as if he had just announced the death of someone important to them. What! Even Anna could not be seen with Elsa anymore! Her own sister was to no longer see her! It…it just…it just could not happen! It just could not happen! Not when they were so close in their lives!

"I'm sorry, Elsa." Caspian said to her, rubbing the back of her head as she buried herself in his arm again. "Pabbie, we will be here if we need your help," he told him.

"Do not fear, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," he told them and walked over to the door. "Now all of you go home and get some rest. You need it after a long night like tonight."

Obeying his advice, the family left the cottage and began their ride back to Arendelle. However, as they went, all of them, aside from Anna obviously, were thinking the same thing.

Things were going to be very different in their lives from now on. Whether for good or for bad, though, that was up to fate to decide.


	5. A whole new world and its troubles

**Over the next fourteen years **

And things certainly did change a lot over the last decade and a half for the family. Almost immediately the night with which Anna was struck by Elsa's powers, the parents of the two sisters took vigorous steps to keep the two apart. Elsa's bed and her furniture were moved out from the bedroom of the two sisters into another unused bedroom down the hall. When Anna asked why, her parents said that Elsa "needed to grow up," to quote their words. Elsa too responded the same way before walking off with tears falling from her eyes; Anna feeling the same way as she watched her sister disappear into her room and shut the door behind her as if finally sealing the two off from each other forever.

On that day, Anna felt the worst pain ever. She could not imagine why her sister would suddenly leave her and no longer play with her, why her parents had decided to do this to them when they were so happy. It just did not make any sense, nor was it fair! How could they do this to them? How could they break up the two perfect sisters and keep them apart just because one of them needed to grow up? It was not fair at all!

But Anna's pleading got her nowhere, and it got worse from there on. As the years passed and Anna and Elsa grew older, the fun that once existed between them became almost non-existent. Rarely did they see each other, being it only a birthday or Christmas or whatever other holiday they had and even then there was little exchange of words between them, largely because the parents made sure they were kept apart. This continued separation, combined with the growing want to be with her sister and the depression that came as a result of this want of hers not happening only made Anna deeply upset and lost in her life, as if she was dead inside and was left to wander aimlessly, waiting for the happy times to come around again.

For Elsa, it was pretty much the same. Despite her actions in order to protect her sister, the separation was also having horrific effects on her too. Depression was common within her and often her parents, when they tried to comfort and help their daughter, would find her curled up in a ball in the corner of her room surrounded by a covering of frost and snow, tears running down her face. Her want to reach out to Anna, to touch her, hug her and let her sister know that she was there for her and wanted to be with her again. All of that was suppressed by her fears of hurting her sister again and so, _very, very_ reluctantly stopped herself.

The worst of these times had been when it had been snowing at Christmas and throughout winter. Anna would everyday knock on Elsa's door and cheerfully and hopefully ask "Elsa, do you wanna build a snowman?" Every time, it broke Elsa's heart to hear her sister call out to her, each time in a sense pleading with her to come out from her room and be her sister again. She had wanted to just throw the door open and say to Anna "Yes, I wanna build a snowman!" and run off with her to do so but no. Her fears and her worries overtook her every time. There were even times, and Elsa hated herself for doing this, when she said to Anna to go away, to which her baby sister would mutter a sad "Okay," and walk away, feeling terribly hurt inside.

And so that was the situation between Anna and Elsa for fourteen years. Barely seeing and speaking, soon they began to doubt whether it would all come to an end. Their parents could do little to help and watched with near broken hearts the two sisters become estranged from one another; they too wondering if it would ever end, if they would ever see their daughters play with one another again.

However, dear readers, their minds were soon to be occupied with new concerns and new dilemmas, and these originated not within the walls of their house, but outside them, and by outside, I mean outside the country of Norway.

You see dear readers, in the years following the incident, Europe, after the trouble of the early 1920s with Germany's hyperinflation and the attempted putsches that followed, the French invasion of the Ruhr, the Russian Civil War and the Fascist takeover of Italy, things seemed to be calming down. Life was steadily going back to a slow and peaceful state, towards what many hoped would be the same that had existed in Europe pre-1914. It was only that which they wanted, a return to normality, a return to peace and tranquillity. And for a while it did. People were happy, peace largely existed with the occasional outbreak of conflict here and there, and everything that had threatened this new order in Europe before had largely subsided. Things looked positive and set to continue that way.

Sadly, as stated earlier within this story, it was not to last. Without warning in 1929, the Stock Market in Wall Street crashed, plunging America, much of Europe and many areas of the Far East into an economic depression. Before one knew it, 1923 had struck again for many countries. Inflation skyrocketed, people found money worthless and soon employment was decreasing whilst its opposite was on the rise. Some countries such as Italy managed to just scrape through, but others were not so lucky.

One of those countries badly affected by the Great Depression, just as it had been affected by the hyperinflation six years earlier, was Germany. Now a Republic after the end of WW1, this new constitution had struggled and fought long and hard to survive the economic downfall and political extremism that proliferated throughout the country, in some cases barely just surviving both had it not been for the fear of Communism in the now newly Communist USSR. In the mid-1920s, things had cooled down and stability came back with Stresemann and others implementing new economic and political plans to rebuild the country. Things were working well and looked set to continue as such.

1929, of course, changed all that. The new depression brought back the economic downfall and the political extremists. Before long, just as many had done after WW1's end, people were looking for a saviour. Some looked to the political Left among the Communists, some the Centre political parties and favoured the Weimar Republic, others looked to the political Right and envied the nationalists. So called heroes and cult figures were to be found among all three areas, all looking for inspiration within and outside Germany to gather strength and rebuild the country in their image. Kapp, Hindenburg, Liebknecht, Luxembourg, Ludendorff, Ebert, all were looked up to by various people.

And then there was the leader of a nationalist party that was led by someone whom a great many began to look up to. Being a former WW1 veteran and a sympathiser of the nationalist cause, he, like millions of others, felt enraged when the Treaty of Versailles, the 'Dolschstuss' or stab in the back, had been signed by the German government now in power. Driven by anger and found by luck among many influential people, he became a public speaker and soon head of the NSDAP party, the abbreviated form of which was the Nazi Party.

That man was Adolf Hitler.

Gradually, after rising through the ranks to leadership and building up the party's strength, Hitler had hoped to seize power in 1923 with the Munich Putsch, a move that failed and nearly ended up with him being killed in the process. Luck, however, had been on his side for his nationalist agenda was sympathised with by the courts and so he was given a light prison sentence. After being released, he became set on gaining power democratically, realising this was the only way to do it, but needed something to happen as for four years the Nazi party's influence waned, becoming like all the other extremists. Nothing more than a backwater group that many believed would fizzle out over time.

Again, however, the depression changed all of that. Before long, the Nazis were on the rise again, attracting many followers and supporters and, with Hitler's great skill for oratory and industrialist support, was soon on the way to becoming the biggest party in the Reichstag, much to the dismay of President Hindenburg, who despised the "Vulgar little _Gefreite_," or Lance-Corporal. His aim was to stop the Nazis from becoming too powerful and, especially, to prevent Hitler being chancellor.

By 1933, Hindenburg had no choice, however. All of the other chancellors had failed and, with Nazi support still strong despite some recent setbacks, Hitler was the only real candidate who looked like he could get the job done. Reluctantly, on January 30th of that year, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. A move that Hindenburg regretted doing to the core of his heart.

Now, a year and half later, within the Tannenberg Memorial complex on August 7th, 1934, the very site of the first Russian defeat in WW1, here were both men again, only there was a slight difference between them.

Thousands had packed into the complex, almost completely filling it out, save for a large kind of P shaped space in the middle and towards one of the columns were a large entrance into the walls of the complex was located. Within this P shaped space, stood several battalions of soldiers and officers, all of them placed around a large sarcophagus draped with the German imperial flag. Inside it was Hindenburg, who had died of illness five days earlier. Large bands of flowers decorated the ground it and on the walls of the monument and before the sarcophagus stood a podium. Behind it stood Adolf Hitler, dressed in a black suit and declaring loudly into the microphone, his voice ringing out around the memorial.

_"The towers of the castle shall be defiant guards of this, his last great headquarters in the East. Standards and flags shall salute him-" _a chorus of applause interrupted him, the shouts of the crowd ringing out around him like those attending a football game all cheering at the sight of near goal by a player. It filled the air for a moment before dying down, allowing Hitler to continue with his speech. _"The German Volk will come to its dead hero to gather new strength for_ _life in times of need, for even when the last trace of this body shall have been_ _obliterated, his name will ever more be immortal."_

He paused for a moment to wipe the perspiration from his forehead, the midday heat bearing down on him and the crowd before him.

Among the crowd, somewhere along the front, where the people had a clear view of Hitler, there was a short blonde haired woman with green eyes and a small, perfectly shaped face with a touch of freckles on the nose. She was dressed in a black dress and slip on shoes. Next to her was a man who was slightly taller than her with brown hair, brown eyes and a handsome face with a small toupee beard on his chin. He was dressed in black too, though his comprised of a jacket and black trousers and shoes, the shoes, which were expensive he had been given them by the woman standing next to him. Both of them were staring on at the man who was to soon be Reich Fuhrer.

_"Dead Commander, enter into Valhalla now!" _Hitler's voice boomed out across the memorial. _"Let all of us who are witness here today know this: the old Reich and its finest leader have entered paradise. Now in its place comes a new Reich, one which will restore this nation to its former glory. Let us come together as a united people and begin our journey into a new golden age!"_

Upon hearing these words, the crowd broke into applause again. Cheering erupted, people shouted in ecstasy and joy. In almost all of them, the feeling of pride and greatness was beginning to rise. This man was truly their saviour! Yes, he would help bring them back to how they had once been! Germany would live with Hitler as their leader!

The two mentioned people at the front were also overwhelmed with amazement at Hitler's words. They had lived through the depression and the hard times of the 1920s and 30s and now wanted to see change. No one else was as committed to it as Hitler and they put their trust in him, even though they were not entirely happy with everything he stood for. Nevertheless, they brushed that aside, hoping that such things would go away over time.

"_**Long live the movement of the German people, Ich Liebe Deutschland! Sieg Heil!" **_Hitler shouted out as loud as he could into the microphone, almost simultaneously thrusting his right arm into the air in front of him, flat palm out in a kind of salute that was styled on the same the Fascists used in Italy; who in turn took it from the Romans.

As if they were a reflection of Hitler's personality, the crowd copied Hitler directly. Thousands of right arms thrust themselves into the air, each followed by a cry of _Sieg Heil _that became a chorus, filling the air like the noise of an explosion. Some called out moderately, others cried out with all their hearts as if putting their entire lives into this man's hands.

In the second row of observers, two more people looked on with sadness and utmost terror lingering in their eyes. A man and a woman. The former was a tall man with a small beard and moustache and dressed in a black suit. The latter, his wife, was a pretty woman with brown hair, green eyes and dressed in a black dress that covered her black slip on shoes. Both had watched the rise of this man with complete apprehension and were now terrified at the prospect of what could happen with the position he was to gain soon.

What worried them the most was that their daughter was being swooped up into his aura of admiration that the man had around him, and there seemed to belittle they could do to stop her from changing her views.

Then, looking ahead slightly, both went wide-eyed with terror, as did a third woman who was slightly taller than the blonde haired woman, with curly black hair, pale green eyes and was dressed in a black dress with slip on shoes as well. All of them could what believe what they were seeing.

The blonde haired woman and the man next to her both had their right arms raised into the ait on front of them, the declaration of _Sieg Heil _echoing from their lips. It was not one of fear or moderate care; it was full blown commitment and support. Like everyone around them, they had been swept up fully into the euphoria that had gripped the crowd and the nation beyond the walls of the memorial. They were happy they were doing this and were glad to be part of the support for the one who they were certain would rebuild Germany.

And so, dear readers, this is the world with which the two sisters were growing up in. Radicalism was on the rise and had gripped a number of nations like a vice and it would only be a matter of time before it exploded and caused trouble.

Whether or not Elsa and Anna would become directly involved is uncertain at this point, but one thing is for sure. This new world was going to bring a lot of change and a lot of trouble.


	6. Off on a trip

**Arendelle**

**April 9****th****, 1938**

A relative calm had descended across Europe just a little under a month following the events of the _Anschluss_. German troops, with some element of surprise but were largely nothing more than slow moving columns, had marched into the birth country of Hitler. Precise political manoeuvring and the assurance of Britain and France not acting on such a move ensured that the country was now annexed as part of the planned 'Greater Germany' many within the Nazi leadership envisioned. Things were looking up in the eyes of Hitler. Popularity for him soared to an unprecedented level, everyone was happy that they were able to achieve something without needing to go to war and ruin everything that had been created for them.

As for the newly annexed nation, reactions had been almost entirely positive. Hitler paraded through the streets of the city that was the capital of his homeland like Caesar on his Triumph through Rome two thousand years before. Peace had returned so everyone was now beginning to get back into their daily routine and forget about the short, but incredibly tense time they had just been through, though everyone was mentally praying that they would not be thrown into another 1914 as their forefathers had done.

In the city of Arendelle again little had changed. New houses had been built and the small dock on the lakeside had grown a little as well as ships passed in and out of the area on their way to Trondheim a little further up the lake from the sea on the other side of a break in cliffs to the south west at the other end of the lake near a few small villages. People had come and gone both as travellers and as residents of the city but apart from that, the place just stayed the same old same old.

Sadly, however, for Anna and Elsa their situation had not changed either. As stated in the previous chapter, the fourteen years they had been separated from each other looked set to continue into what would soon be their fifteenth year. The longing and depression between the two pounding endlessly within their hearts, threatening, and at the moment doing well, to drag them down further into an abyss of sadness from which they would never escape.

Anna, however, had not given up in her attempts to try and contact her sister. Even now in the fourteenth year of their being separated, whenever she passed her sister's door she would knock on it in the hopes Elsa would throw it open and embrace her and fill her with her warmth and love she had known years ago when they were younger. Anna had only a few days ago even attempted to open the door to Elsa's room herself, but when the doorknob had been half turned it suddenly became stuck and, after wrestling with it for a few minutes, she gave up and walked away, her face full of sadness by that point. The door, however, despite being a barrier between her and her sister, had also been the averter of pain and anguish at the same time because if Anna had x-ray vision she would have seen that Elsa had frozen the doorknob on her side of the door in her room, her face too full of pain and sadness at the acquiescence of having to do something like that to her own sister.

Today, however, as the light of dusk began to etch in through the windows opposite Elsa's bedroom door, movement echoed throughout the house. Anna, who was dressed in a kind of cream dress with long sleeves and tights that covered her legs and black shoes, who had been rushing down towards the room where her parents' room was after coming back from sitting on balcony rooftop, came to a halt outside the door once again. Her teal eyes stared at it as if wishing it would disappear into thin air so she could see her sister once more; the one thing she had wanted for so long. She even thought about knocking once again on the door, praying like she usually would for a response from the other side of the wooden barrier.

_What's the point! _Her mind snapped at her as if it were berating her for being so stupid. _Your sister is not gonna answer you! Don't bother!_

Turning, Anna ran on down the hall, glancing back once for a brief moment at the door as if expecting it to be slightly ajar and to see a blue eye peeking out watching her run down the corridor at her. A part of her was even hoping that would happen but no. Her eyes caught nothing in that brief moment. Not even a tiny glimpse of movement or a shadow. Elsa still carried on the shutting out of her sister.

Movement and talking from ahead drew her head back to its front and, looking on she saw her parents packing the last of their clothes and her father's papers into a suitcase, chatting about the upcoming conference and meeting with the Norwegian king Haakon VII and prime minister Johan Nygaardsvold to discuss the changing political climate on the continent. Neither of the two parents wanted to be separated from their children, especially from Elsa, but they had to go. They could only hope they could finish it early or at least have something cut it short.

"Mother, father!" Anna exclaimed as she reached their bedroom, causing her parents to look up and smile at their daughter. "I'm gonna miss you both," she said as she pulled them both into a hug, resting her head on her mother's neck.

"So will we, Anna," Caspian said to her as he rubbed his daughter's back, drawing a smile from her as she looked up at him.

Anna had changed over the last fourteen years. She was now much taller than she had been fourteen years ago; their now nineteen and one month and a day old daughter being only slightly smaller than her mother. Her face had become more heart shaped and the freckles had become more apparent on her cheeks and nose. Her eyes had, like her personality, grown bigger and were always full of light and love; probably one of the few things about her that had never changed. Her strawberry blonde hair had grown much longer too over the years and now hung in two braids that hung over her shoulders, accentuating her beauty and cuteness that everyone fawned over her about. She had become a true beauty like her mother when they had first met many years ago.

With another hug, Anna released her parents and kissed them both on their faces. "See you in two weeks," she said to them, a voice of mixed tones spilling out her words.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Later that day, whilst Anna had retreated back onto the roof of the house to watch the last lights of dusk fade away behind the mountains on the other side of the lake, Caspian and Emma walked down the stairs to the hall where several men were packing away the chairs that had been placed out for the day's gathering of the council and deputies. Kai followed close behind with the last of their suitcases in his hand and he placed it with the others that had been put in a pile near the door. Gerda was standing opposite them talking to Elsa, who had been collected by the former when they were sure Anna was not around.

The conversation between the two abruptly stopped as soon as Caspian and Emma entered the hall and Elsa turned to face them. She too had grown up over the years. She was slightly taller than her mother and was dressed in a blue dress with a top underneath that covered her arms like her sister's clothes. Her face too had formed into more of a heart shape and, though much more faintly, had a trace of freckles across the nose and cheeks. Her eyes were a deep blue sea colour and a small snowflake necklace hung around her neck; having been formed by her own powers. Her white hair was pulled into a bun at the back and on her hands were a pair of gloves for which we shall see the explanation for in a moment's time.

Meeting the gaze of her parents, Elsa bowed her head respectfully to keep in with the customs of her home before looking back at them with a sad gaze on her face, her eyes telling them exactly everything she felt and feared about them going away.

"Do you have to go?" she asked them, a glimmer of hope in her voice that they might change their minds.

Her father sighed sympathetically and placed a hand on her cheek. "You'll be fine, Elsa," he said to her. "I promise you that." He added, giving her a small smile.

Elsa returned it, but inside her she raged with anxiety. What if she was not? What if she lost control again or accidentally hurt someone? What if she ran into her sister and revealed her powers? All of these worries burned within her like a wildfire raging in a forest but she tried her best to extinguish them and force them down to allow her parents to see at least some happiness on her face again.

"Okay. Have a good trip," she said to them both and hugged and kissed the pair of them. "I love you,"

"We love you too, Elsa," Caspian replied. "Stay safe, and remember your mantra whenever you need to calm down,"

Elsa nodded, her eyes falling to her gloved hands. She had been wearing them since she was about ten, acting as a sort of barrier between herself and whatever she touched. Her fears and anxiety of her powers and the potential harm they could bring to other people made her freeze anything she came into contact with. Her father had given the gloves to her as a result and repeated the famous mantra she had now taken up as a result: _Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. _

Breathing in deeply as if gathering courage, she watched as Kai and Gerda helped Caspian and Emma carry their suitcases out to the waiting car to take them to a nearby airstrip a few miles away. As she watched them go, however, she began to wonder how hard it would be here without them.

Anna was the only one left for her for the next two weeks. 


	7. What are we gonna do?

**Two days later**

What do you say to someone who has lost a person dear to them? What could you say? Sorry? Sometimes you would doubt yourself if you really meant it and that really you were glad you had not suffered what they had. What else? Are you okay? Obviously they are not! You think that it's a rather stupid thing to say! So do you say nothing? Maybe. Is it a good idea though? You may inadvertently create the feeling that you don't really care very much and cause antagonism towards you.

So it's a difficult thing to answer.

Right now in Arendelle, everyone was fighting themselves over that very question, along with the sadness and anguish that had plagued the entire town for the last day or so. The very melancholic atmosphere just seemed to hand in the air, which was highlighted by the cloudy and rather cold spring day. It was as if the land itself was mourning.

The reason for all this you may ask? Just two days ago, as you may recall, Mayor Caspian and his wife Emma had left to go to Oslo to talk about the current European situation when their plane had suddenly malfunctioned and crashed into the mountains about an hour from the Norwegian capital. News of their deaths had reached Arendelle very quickly. It was bad enough for the citizens of the town to be given the news. For Kai and Gerda, however, they had the hard job of breaking the news separately to Anna and Elsa, both of whom were absolutely heartbroken over what had happened.

And now, as the crowds of people left the cemetery on the edge of the town near the lake, the sadness and melancholic atmosphere seemed to never leave them as if they were cursed to remain this way forever.

For one in particular, it was incredibly bad.

Behind them, sitting on the ground and dressed entirely in black, save for her head where her black hood was only half covering her head, exposing her red hair, was Anna. Her eyes and the skin around them were puffy and wet from the perpetual shedding of tears since yesterday. Everyone had given their condolences and said their farewells to her parents and decided that she needed some time alone.

Sniffing and wiping away a few tears from her eyes, she stared on at the two huge slabs of stone that marked the names of her parents separated by just a few feet from each other. Sadness cored through her veins, her mind going blank from the total disbelief and sadness at what had happened. Somewhere in her head, her brain was still going: _No! This-this can't be! They c-couldn't … they can't be! No, no! It's not true! _

But as horrible as it was, she had to admit to herself in the most regretful and sorrowful manner that it was all real. None of this was fiction or her mind playing tricks on her or a hallucination. All of this was real, down to the very clothes she was wearing and the very tears she was shedding from her eyes.

Footsteps from behind gradually reached her ears as they neared her body. Looking over her shoulder, Anna's teal coloured eyes went wide when they saw Elsa walking towards her, also dressed in a black dress, shoes and had a black hood drawn up over her head, though a tuft of white hair was visible at the front. Her deep sea blue eyes, like her younger sister, held nothing but sadness within them, which was equally visible by the melancholic expression on her face. Anna watched as she walked wordlessly up to her and knelt down beside her. Anna was surprised for a moment and felt the need to speak but the words got lost in her mouth and just ended up staring dumbfounded at Elsa.

_I can't believe she's out here! _She mentally told herself with a surprised fashion, also feeling a little annoyed at having seen her sibling for the first time in ages.

Even though it may sound rather degrading when reading it, anyone else would feel the same way if the same arrangement had been playing out perpetually for fourteen years and you had seen your sibling for the first time in … God knows how long!

What surprised Anna even more was Elsa taking Anna's left hand in her right one and looking on sadly at the two large stones engraved with the names of their parents, the feeling of hopelessness and sadness surging through her veins like a river's current rushing full steam. Almost immediately, Anna could not help but feel sympathy and pity for her elder sister as a tear rolled down her face. No matter how long they were separated, both were feeling immense pain from the sudden passing of their parents.

Elsa sniffed and scooted closer to Anna, leaning in on her, tears flowing down her cheeks almost as if her eyes were reflecting the aforementioned description. Anna too began to cry again and rested her head on Elsa's, looking on with loss at the stones once more.

"What are we gonna do?" she asked Elsa with a sad tone.

She received no reply except for a few sobs and sniffs, though her sister's grip on her hand tightened as a way of making up for it. It was almost as if she was saying; _"I don't know, but I'll be here for you because I need you right now."_

Despite the current moment in time, Anna felt a little light fall onto her heart.

Maybe … just maybe things would look up for her and her sister. Maybe they would be able to live out this darkest of times.


End file.
